Visual Effects and Animations - Learn SpriteBuilder for iOS Game Development - page 416

Figure 12-6 . Mode-specific properties and the particle texture
Feel free to use other values as you see fit if you don't care much about the end result,
which is supposed to look like hot plasma moving upward, generating a nice lighting ef-
fect on the monsters and in the clouds at the top.
If the effect is done right, you'll find that the final effect is very hard to discern as an actu-
al particle effect. It could almost be mistaken for a much more complex shader effect.
The only control you have over a particle emitter is the particle spawn parameters. And
there are plenty of them. Figure 12-5 contains just the functions and parameters common
to both radial and gravity particle emitters.
The Start Particles and Stop Particles buttons allow you to start and stop emitting
particles within SpriteBuilder. These buttons do not alter the emitter's behavior in the
game; they exist only to stop emitters from emitting particles in the editor.
A particle emitter can be in one of two modes, radial or gravity. The radial mode enables
you to create an effect where the particles swirl around the position of the emitter, while
the gravity mode enables you to let particles fly away in any direction, curved or straight,
with or without gravity.